Firepaw the She-cat
by Mistywater55
Summary: How would the warriors series be different if the hero of the story was a heroine? Would the story be the same? Follow the young Firepaw as she enters into the forest and because apart of a prophecy to save the Clans from destruction.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: What's good?

Okay I know I know WHAT THE HECK? WHY? WHAT ABOUT YOU OTHER STORIES?

Here's an update on the stories (the warrior ones)

Fire in the Sky (On Hiatus) for the time being, I need an end goal for the story which I don't have yet and once I do it will be picked up

Firepaw of SkyClan – I need to decide what to do with Princess' kits before I pick the story up again. The same thing is true for Dovefeather she was originally due for a role that I had planned for her but I'm not so sure I want to take that route.

A Sparrow's Fire (On Hiatus) I'm currently debating if I'm going to revise this story or not. There is something about it I'm unhappy with but I don't necessarily want to scrap it just yet, I think it can be salvage so it might be getting a revision.

Warriors: Blood and Loyalty – is in the process of being revised. The story itself isn't changing and a lot of the plot is the same. What's being changed are I'm replacing OCs with characters from the books. In the process of writing a chapter I wanted to include someone from an SE into the chapter but found it difficult to do so because I started to question (Why wasn't this character present earlier? Why didn't they interact with this character earlier? It would seem like something they would do) so that was the first reason for the revision (that and I felt my own characters were boring and wanted to explore characters in the books who did not enough screen time.)This doesn't mean all my OCs are gone just most of the filler ones from other Clans that made an appearance. Also there was something in the plot that I wanted to add into the story but realized I couldn't add it in because I made no mention of it earlier on and it would confuse everyone so that was what forced me to do the revision. Not too much will be changed you can probably skim through a lot of the chapters if you've already read all the current chapters. The revision is coming along nicely. I'm debating whether to post it chapter by chapter like a new story or to just drop the whole thing. I may just replace the chapters in the original story as I go.

So that's that now for this story it's quite simple.

So what if Fireheart had been a pretty she-cat instead of a handsome tom. How would this have affected the events of the warriors' series?

Would she still be leader or would she follow a different path?

Who would she fall for and who would be attracted to her?

The idea for this story came to me a few years ago from Rowanclaw's famous gender switch in Starlight. I noticed it right away and had a good laugh over it, but it got me thinking, what if Fireheart had been a she-cat?

I've found a few stories with similar ideas like Princess joining instead of Rusty or Rusty and one of his sisters joining, but not one where Rusty was a she-cat and joined ThunderClan.

I changed her name to Rosie since Rusty is a boy name.

Chapter 1

Rosie was curled up comfortably in her basket dreaming of hunting wild mice in the cool dark forest. In her dreams she had trapped a mouse and was beginning to finish it off when she woke up. She yawned and stretched her long body out of her basket and padded into the kitchen up to her food dishes. She lapped up some water before heading toward the cat flap that led to her garden. Once she had made it to outside, she moved quickly to the fence that was a border between the forest and her garden. She loved to sit on that fence, it was her favorite spot in her garden. She leaped onto the fence and gazed around looking at the tall trees that surrounded the ground. While she was perched on the fence, she paused briefly to listen to the sounds that came from the forest. She decided that tonight she wasn't just going to look at the forest; she was going to explore it. Just as she was going to jump down and explore the forest, a familiar black and white tom jumped onto the fence beside her. It was her friend Smudge who lived right next to her.

"Hello Smudge." she mewl softly as she turned to face him.

"Hey Rosie, what are you doing out here so late at night?" he asked curiously, tilting his head to the side. She glanced at the forest before looking back at Smudge.

"I was going to have a look in the forest." she said with a bit of wistfulness in her voice. She had been thinking of going into the forest for a while now, but hadn't gathered up enough courage to go until recently. Smudge and Henry, the old tom who lived not far from her, had told her stories of wild, bone eating, blood thirsty cats, who would tear her to bits just for setting a paw in the forest. She had been frighten of going at first, but after having so many dreams and staring into it so often she couldn't help but wonder what it was like. She was determined to see what was out there.

Smudge looked at her as if she had lost her mind. He gently laid his tail on her shoulder.

"Why would you want to go into the forest? It's dangerous in there."

"You've never thought of going in?" she asked

"Of course not!" he scoffed

"You never once thought of what was out there?" she pressed him.

"No all that's out there are those crazy wild cats that eat the bones of the house cats they kill. You wouldn't see me set a paw in the forest." Smudge meowed. Rosie thought she may have seen a shiver go down his spine when he looked at the forest. She looked back into the forest and for a moment her mind went to her earlier dream of catching mice.

"I won't be out there long, I just want to have a look around." she mewled looking deep into the forest. Smudge leaned against her a little looking cautiously into the forest again.

"Please don't go Rosie, I don't want you hurt." Smudge meowed softly. Rosie looked at her friend and saw the fear and concern for her safety. She purred softly and brushed her tail over Smudge's ears.

"I'll be fine Smudge." Rosie meowed confidently looking back into the forest. Smudge looked at her a moment and realized that her mind was made up. He sighed heavily as he turned to leap back down into his garden.

"Just be careful okay?" Smudge sighed. Rosie nodded before leaping off the fence and padding off into the forest.

She moved through the undergrowth, feeling more and more confident as she padded further into the forest. A breeze rustled her fur a gently rustled the leaves. She was awed by the forest's lush undergrowth and the tall trees. She was half tempted to clime one.

Suddenly she caught the scent of a vole and turned slowly looking around to pinpoint where it was. She spotted it nibbling on a seed at the root of a nearby tree. She crouched down and started to creep toward the unsuspecting vole. When she was within range she heard a twig snap and vole started to bolt away, but Rosie was faster and leaped far enough to trap the vole beneath her paws. She lean down started to bite the vole in the back of the neck when a gray blur slammed into her side. She tumbled a little and got to her feet quickly and faced the gray blur that had attacked her. She realized it was another kitten like herself and at first began to relax until she realized it was coming at her with claws unsheathed. She flinched and dodged the attack that was aimed at her flank. Unfortunately, this allowed the gray kitten to block her from getting home. She hissed in frustration knowing that she'd either have to find a way around the big kitten or risk going further into the forest.

'What should I do?' she thought worryingly, as she kept a close eye on the other kitten. Suddenly the tom charged her. She moved out of the way and swiped at his sides. She barely grazed the tom's still kitten soft fur with her claws. He landed spinning and knocking her back with his legs. She tumbled a little before regaining her footing. This time she charged the gray tom, seemingly surprising him a she aimed her claws for his muzzle. Ducked her blow and headbutted her in the chest. She ended up rolling onto her paw belly flat to the ground.

Just then the gray kitten launched himself into the air looking to crush her beneath him. She seized the moment and quickly rolled onto her back and pushed up with all the strength in her hind legs, as the kitten's heavy body landed on hers', and flung the confused kitten over her head. A loud thud followed the kitten's landing. Rosie felt drained of strength but, she knew she wasn't out of danger yet and as quick as she could she scrambled to her paws, watching as the gray kitten appeared to be motionless. Then she watched as the kitten slowly got to his paws. She tensed her body, ready to dodge another attack that could be coming at any moment. She was surprised to see that the kitten was looking at her with an amused expression on his face.

"Your pretty tough kittypet." The tom meowed. Rosie froze at the comment and stared at him with a look of confusion. 'What's a kittypet?'

"What do you mean kittypet?" She hissed lowly at the tom. The gray tom purred softly in response.

"You're a kittypet, you live with twolegs don't you?" the tom answered. Rosie blinked slowly. 'Twolegs, what are twolegs? He must mean my housefolk.'

"Yeah so what, I'm not scared of you." she growled a little in defiance.

"You should be." The tom growled suddenly and without warning leaped onto her. She screeched loudly and tried to wriggle from underneath him, but she was already drained from their earlier fight. _…all that's out there are those crazy wild cats that eat the bones of the house cats they kill. You wouldn't see me set a paw in the forest,_ Smudge's words echoed in her ears as she continued to struggle. 'This is it's' she thought to herself. She closed her eyes in fear, trembling as she prepared for the gray tom's teeth to sink into her throat, only to open them in shock when she felt his warm tongue lick her ear. She shook off her surprise enough to realize that the tom had given her enough room to wriggle free from him. She backed up a little watching the tom warily as he mrrowed with laughter.

"I was only messing with you. I wasn't going to hurt you." he purred. Rosie relaxed enough when she realized that the strange tom wasn't going to hurt her but she still was prepared to dart away if he changed his mind.

"My name's Graypaw by the way. What's your name?" Rosie watched him closely before answering.

"I'm Rosie, do you really live in the forest?" she asked curiously. Graypaw nodded.

"Yeah and not just me there are lots of cats in the forest." Rosie blinked in surprise.

"Really?" Graypaw nodded again.

"Yes, there are four groups of cats in the forest. ThunderClan, ShadowClan, WindClan and RiverClan. I'm an apprentice of ThunderClan."

"An apprentice?" she asked curiously

"An apprentice is a cat in training to be a warrior." Graypaw answered proudly.

"So you are training to be a warrior?" Rosie meowed in slight confusion.

"Yes warriors are the cats that hunt and protect our Clan."

"Is everyone a warrior?" asked Rosie more interested in these wild cats she had heard so much about.

"No, there are queens who take care of the kits of our clan and the elders who are cats that are too old continue their warrior duties." Rosie nodded in understanding.

"Tell me more about the Clans." Rosie meowed eagerly, wanting to hear more about the wild cats of the forest. Graypaw was about to say more, when he suddenly stiffened. His ears twitching back and forth.

"You need to leave right now quickly." Graypaw meowed urgently. Rosie gave Graypaw a look of confusion. 'What is wrong with him? Weren't we getting along just a moment ago?' She thought with dismay. Then the scent of other cats filled the forest area, Rosie realized why Graypaw was asking her to leave. Rosie started to run when a large golden cat emerged from the shadows of the trees. Rusty noticed the cat's powerful looking shoulders and haunches. Another cat appeared behind the other, the cat had blue-gray fur that shined silver in the light from the moon. At the sight of the gray cat, Graypaw lowered himself to the ground. Rosie decided that it was best to follow his example and lowered herself onto her belly. The gray she-cat looked down at the two lowered to the ground.

"Graypaw who is this cat?" meowed the gray she-cat. Graypaw looked up from his paws and let his gaze travel from her to the golden tabby.

"She's just a kittypet, Bluestar" answered Graypaw. Bluestar looked more closely at Rosie. The golden tabby looked at Graypaw crossly.

"Graypaw you shouldn't be so close to the Twolegplace" meowed the golden tabby. Graypaw looked shamefully at his paws.

"I'm sorry Lionheart, I wanted to see this part of the forest. I scented an intruder and went to run them out of our territory. I didn't mean to stray so close to the Twolegplace." Graypaw meowed. Rosie looked curiously at Graypaw. 'These cats smell like him they must be a part of his Clan.' She thought to herself

"Kittypet, what is your name?" asked gray she-cat as she looked over the young she-cat. Rusty looked up at Bluestar and watched her carefully.

"My name is Rosie" She meowed softly, proud of herself for not letting her voice tremble. Lionheart turned his gaze over to the flame furred kitten.

"You fight well for a kittypet Rosie and you seem to enjoy the forest. Would you like to see more of it?" Bluestar asked her curiously. Rosie looked at her confused. The gray she-cat purred in amusement after noticing Rosie's confusion.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself, I am Bluestar the leader of ThunderClan and this is one of my warriors, Lionheart." Bluestar flicked her tail at the golden tabby beside her. "Though you have trespassed in our territory I can see great potential for you as a warrior for ThunderClan, would you be willing to give up your life as a kittypet and be a warrior of ThunderClan?" Rosie blinked in surprise. Lionheart turned to Bluestar with a look of shock on his face.

"But, Bluestar she is a kittypet. She is use to a soft life, with food given to her every day by twolegs." murmured Lionheart. Bluestar gave Lionheart a hard stare.

"She would have caught that vole if Graypaw hadn't attacked her." She glanced at Graypaw still crouched on the ground. "She also fought well against your apprentice, do you not agree?" Lionheart sighed and nodded

"Yes Bluestar I agree with you." Bluestar purred at Lionheart before turning her gaze back to Rosie and Graypaw. Rosie trembled slightly nervous, but felt better when she felt a slight brush of Graypaw's tail on her flank.

"You may both rise" Bluestar meowed. Rosie slowly stood up. Graypaw rose to his paws.

"Bluestar is offering you training. Although it might be too much for you since you must be use to a comfortable life." meowed Lionheart. Rosie felt hurt by Lionheart's words, she tried not to let it show; but she didn't seem to do a good job of it.

"He did not mean to insult you just that the offer I have made to you is not one to be taken lightly" soothed Bluestar. "You will come to our Clan and you will learn our ways but if you cannot live by our code you will have to go back to your twolegs and not return." Bluestar watched her for a reaction. Rosie was a little unsure, but she felt determined to do this.

"If you join, you will have to be willing to give your life for the clan, but you'll know what is like to be a true cat." Bluestar meowed.

"May I have more time to think about this decision?" asked she asked quietly. Bluestar gave her an understanding nod.

"Very well, Lionheart will be waiting here tomorrow at sunhigh." meowed Bluestar "You may give him your answer." Bluestar flicked her tail in a silent command and led her Clanmates back into the forest. Graypaw glanced back and gave a wave of is tail. Rosie returned the wave with a bit of apprehension, she continued to watch them until they were out of sight.

* * *

Rosie awoke from her basket with a stretch. Her spine curving gracefully as she climbed out of her basket. She headed over to her dish and began to lap up the water found inside the dish. Once she was finished she pushed her way through the cat flap into the garden. She looked over at the fence and thought back to last night. It had been exciting to meet the wild Clan cats living in the forest. And hearing about their lives had interested her. Could she live among them? Would they accept her? She was shaken from her thoughts when she heard a voice meowing at her from the fence.

"Good morning Rosie, it's about time you woke up." meowed Smudge as he sat on the fence. He leaped down from the fence padding over to her looking eager to speak to her. Rosie meowed a greeting to him as he approached her.

Smudge shook his head slowly as he sat down beside her. "You are going to get as bad as Henry if you start sleeping in." Rosie mrrowed a little as she thought of the cranky old tom.

"I don't think anyone can sleep as much as Henry," Rosie mewed softly. Her mind again began to wander to the forest cats from the night before. Smudge must have noticed her pensive look because he suddenly looked concerned.

"Rosie are you okay? Did you hurt yourself out in the forest?" Smudge meowed looking her over for any injuries. For a moment Rosie's thought's wandered to her confrontation with Graypaw, but she shook her head clearing those thoughts away.

"No that's not it," she told him softly, "But something did happen." Smudge blinked at her in confusion.

"What happened?"

Rosie took a deep breath before answering. "I ran into some wild cats in the forest."

Smudge's eyes widen, "Really? Are you okay? Were they violent? Did you have to fight them?" Smudge's eyes were filled with even more worry and concern, but also curiosity and wonder.

Rosie closed her eyes and briefly recalled the excitement and fear she felt from her brief battle with the young Graypaw. She opened her eyes and explained all that happened that night in the forest.

"So these cats want you to join them?" Smudge looked at her in complete disbelief. "You can't seriously be considering going with those wild cats are you?"

Rosie could see tension in the young tom's shoulders, she felt a little guilty for worrying the tom but she had given the decision plenty of thought.

"It's true, and I decided that I want to go." Rosie mewed firmly, shocking Smudge who looked even more upset.

"No, please don't go Rosie" wailed Smudge he blinked at her with a pain filled gaze, Rosie felt bad this was the first time she had seen Smudge so upset, and it hurt her to know that she was the cause of his pain, but even so... this was something she knew within her bones she had to do. She tried to think of something to comfort her friend.

"Don't worry Smudge, I'm sure my housefolk will get another cat." meowed Rosie brushing her tail against his flank comfortingly.

"It won't be the same!" Smudge exclaimed. His eyes were wide and shiny glimmering with unspoken sadness. Rosie felt another pain of sadness and mentally grit her teeth and decided to keep going. She gently placed her tail on his shoulder and began to speak gently to him.

"Smudge I'm sorry, but I can't stay here, I can't really explain it but I feel like this is something I must do. I have to go." Firepaw explained. Smudge was silent, and for a moment Rosie thought Smudge didn't hear her or was simply ignoring her, until he gently touched noses with her. He breathed a shaky sigh.

"Okay Rosie, I'm miss you" he murmured.

"I'll miss you too" Rosie sighed softly happy to know that her friend was accepting her choice, she asked if they could play together one last time before she left. Smudge agreed and the started to gently wrestle with each other.

Okay so that's it for Chapter 1 review and let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay here is the next chapter of the story.

So a reviewer named Sierra asked me several questions that they would like answered. Here are answers to them:

Firepaw's warrior name is….yeah that's intentional. I changed Firepaw's name in my other story because he had been a part of a different Clan. I haven't made up my mind if I'll change it or not.

Sandstorm and Firepaw are probably going to have friction between them as the only two she-cats in the apprentice den and their will likely be unspoken competition between them. That is literally all I'm going to say on that.

I'm not going to reveal who Firepaw will end up with because it's going to be something that is involved in the plot of the story. There are multiple suitors Firepaw will have to go through, but not all these suitors will be so obvious.

I don't know for sure if Squirrelflight and Leafpool will be born in the story. First off it's too early for that and secondly there wouldn't be a guarantee of them being same as they are in the books. (Also I'm not a huge fan of one of those sisters)

When it comes to whether or not she'll have kits before she becomes leader? I will say this. The Erins (Vicky and Kate I believe) mentioned that Female leaders are allowed to have kits, it is just that it's frowned upon because of all the responsibility a leader must do. It would be distracting for a female leader to raise her kits if there isn't a queen to help her look after them. Most female leaders have kits before they become leader for this reason. In the case of Bluestar, it was bad timing, if she had gotten pregnant while she was already deputy or even when she was a leader, she would have been able to keep her kits, but because a queen who is nursing young kits is unlikely to be chosen to become a new deputy, she had to give them up.

Also the only cat whose gender has changed is Firepaw no one else has changed their gender. No one else is going to be changing gender.

Chapter 2

Rosie leaped onto the fence and stared thoughtfully into the forest. She had just left her friend, Smudge. They had given each other a heartfelt goodbye and gone their separate ways. From the looks of the sky she was a little early so she decided to settle down to wait for sunhigh.

As she waited, she would periodically taste the air to see if a new scent was present. She paused suddenly and tasted the air. She had smelt the faint scent of Graypaw and Bluestar that still lingered previously, but Lionheart's scent had become much stronger.

"Bluestar and Graypaw aren't here." Rosie murmured to herself as she glanced around. "And Lionheart is close by."

"Indeed and I'm not alone,"

Rosie looked slightly alarmed to hear the golden tabby's voice. Even more so to hear that there was another cat with Lionheart. She started to taste the air again, when Lionheart came out from behind a bush. She paused when another cat, followed Lionheart from behind the bush. The new tom was a long bodied muscular white tom.

"This is Whitestorm" meowed Lionheart. "We were sent to bring you back to camp." Whitestorm gave her a curious sniff and stared thoughtfully at her. Rosie sat up straighter looking directly into the large white tom's eyes.

"Greetings, I have heard much about you." murmured Whitestorm. Rosie dipped her head, she was about to respond but was stopped by Lionheart.

"Let's go, we can talk when we get back to camp." growled Lionheart. He turned and dashed away into the forest. Whitestorm was quick to follow. Roise quickly leapt to her paws and raced after was a few pawsteps behind them. The warriors led her through the undergrowth. They moved quickly and barely slowed their pace as they leaped over fallen trees. Rosie struggled to keep up a little, but didn't fall far behind them. She began to wonder how far the camp was from the twolegplace when she realized they had halted by a ravine.

"We are near our camp." Lionheart told her. Rosie started to strain to see through the undergrowth, but Whitestorm nudged her slightly, tapping her nose gently with his tail. She looked into face and saw him blink in amusement.

"Use your nose" He murmured to her. Rosie nodded and leaned in again to taste the air. She trembled a little in excitement as she started to catch many different scents coving the air.

"I scent many cats." meowed Rosie at last. Whitestorm and Lionheart nodded in approval while they gave each other amused looks.

"Come Bluestar is expecting us" meowed Lionheart. He led the way to a gorse tunnel and pushed his way through. Rosie followed directly after him, with Whitestorm taking the rear. There was a bare clearing, where many cats were lying next to each other or sitting by themselves. The cats had started to pick up Rosie's scent and looked at the young kittypet warily. Rosie tried to keep her tail for twitching nervously as she glanced at the cats present. She caught a familiar scent on the breeze and was happy to see Bluestar bounding over to them.

"She came" purred Bluestar as she touched her tail to Rosie's shoulder, a pleased look on her face. "What do you think of her Whitestorm?" She asked as she looked at the large white warrior.

"She did well keeping up with us on the way here. And she picked up the scents of the camp well." admitted Whitestorm, Rosie perked her ears up after hearing this, her eyes brightened considerably.

"I thought she would, so we all agree?" Bluestar asked patiently, both warriors nodded. "Very well." Bluestar meowed as she leaped to the top of a large boulder.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath Highrock for a Clan meeting." Bluestar called out to her Clanmates. Cats came over to crowd beneath the rock and looked up curiously at Bluestar. She began to speak to her Clan about a need for more warriors. Rosie watched the cats faces, some seemed curious about what their leader had to say, while others seemed to grow agitated while listening to her speak. Rosie began to listen more closely as Bluestar pointed her out to the others in the camp.

"I have decided to take this outsider into our Clan to be trained." meowed Bluestar looking out at her warriors. Cats started to mutter to one another and some gave Rosie a few curious glances.

"She's a kittypet, look at her collar" sneered a pale tabby loudly as he glared at her. "We don't need any soft lumps of fur to feed." A few cats meowed an agreement and more cats began to talk amongst each other. "She'll probably run back to her twolegs' nest the moment they start a battle." Spat the pale tabby tom again.

Rosie looked over at the direction the voice was coming from. Lionheart, who stood beside her, bent down and began to murmur into her ear quietly.

"That pale tabby is Longtail, he is a new warrior, and he is challenging your right to the Clan." he hissed into her ear. "Will you meet his challenge?" Rosie glanced a little at Lionheart before training her gaze back on Longtail. She began to pinpoint where her mocker was sitting. Rosie gave no signal as she leaped onto her opponent.

Rosie leaped onto Longtail's back and sank her teeth into his scruff and began to rake his back with her claws, Longtail shook Rosie off his back and turned charging for Rosie, who dodged out of the way, and raked her claws down his side. Wincing Longtail turned and slashed at Rosie's face. She ducked but Longtail knocked Rosie onto her back and slashed at her face with his claws unsheathed. Rosie scrambled to her paws and leaped for Longtail who dodged her attack and grasped her scruff in his teeth and began to violently shake her and take swipes at her with his claws. Rosie struggled free and ducked out of the way and quickly back kicked Longtail causing him to stumble a couple tail lengths away. Slightly winded Longtail rose and charged Rosie aggressively head-butting her. Rosie rolled with the impact and landed on her paws quickly. Longtail tackled her to the ground his teeth catching her collar. Rosie struggled in his grasp and managed to kick him in the stomach with both her hind legs using all her strength using Longtail's momentum against him and flipping him over causing his collar to snap from around his neck. Longtail tumbled away slowly getting to his paws with the collar still dangling from his jaws. He started toward the young she-cat when Bluestar's voice stopped him.

"Stop this now!" Bluestar called to the two. Rosie got to her paws looking expectantly over at Bluestar. The ThunderClan leader leaped down from her place on the Highrock padding over to Longtail. She took the collar from him and beckoned Rosie over to her. As Rosie approached, she set the collar down in front of her paws.

"This is a sign from StarClan, they have accepted her by freeing her from her twolegs." Bluestar called out to the Clan. The Clan began to murmur to each other. Rosie looked down at her collar and began to bury it as Bluestar moved closer to the Highrock.

Bluestar looked over to Rosie and beckoned her over. Rosie bounded over to stand in front of the proud ThunderClan leader. "By naming apprentices, we show that ThunderClan will survive and remain strong. From this moment on, until she has earned her warrior name, this apprentice will be known as Firepaw."

"Firepaw,"

"Firepaw,"

"Firepaw" chanted the Clan, a few were more reluctant than others; but Firepaw was just happy to have been accepted in the Clan. Cats began to go back to their previous activities.

"Hey Firepaw," a familiar voice called, Firepaw purred happily at Graypaw, as the gray apprentice bounded over to her side. She glad to see another familiar face. He nudged her happily as he reached her side.

"Hello Graypaw, it's great to see you," she meowed trying to stop herself from wincing. Some scratches she sustained stung a little.

"It good to see you again too, but wow I can't believe you fought Longtail that was great." He meowed excitedly. Firepaw purred in amusement, her sides still ached from the battle with the young warrior. She looked around the clearing.

"Where did he go?" she asked curiously, looking around cautiously as if she expected the tom to sneak attack her when she wasn't prepared for it. Graypaw purred in amusement.

"He must have gone to Spottedleaf's den, to get his wounds treated. I still can't believe you fought a warrior." Graypaw murmured with a little mischief in his eye. Noticing her confusion he explained a bit further. "Spottedleaf's our medicine cat, she'll fix him right up." Firepaw blinked in surprise.

"What are medicine cats?" asked Firepaw curiously.

"A medicine cat treats any injuries a warrior sustains in battle and also any illness a warrior may receive they also share tongues with StarClan," Firepaw tilted her head to the side a little.

"StarClan?" echoed Firepaw. Graypaw nodded and began to elaborate.

"They're our warrior ancestors who watch over us, and guide us. They created the code we follow." Explained Graypaw. Firepaw nodded in understanding, she was going to ask another question when they were interrupted by a voice. They turned to see a sleek black and gray tabby tom, glaring disapprovingly at Rosie.

"You were lucky kittypet, if your collar hadn't snapped when it did you'd have been running for your little Twoleg nest." Hissed the dark striped tabby tom. "Enjoy your time here while you can, I guarantee you won't be here long" with that said he walked off. Firepaw couldn't help but feel a little irritated by his words.

"Who was that?" growled Firepaw with an angry flick of her tail. Graypaw sniffed a little as he watched the dark tabby stalk off.

"That was Darkstripe, he isn't exactly the nicest tom around." Graypaw meowed placing his tail placidly on her shoulder. She began to relax a little but still couldn't shake the irritation she felt.

"I'd like to sink my claws in his pelt," She hissed as she continued to glare at Darkstripe's retreating form.

Suddenly a yowl broke through the camp as a young cat raced into the camp. He was black with a white tipped tail. He looked ragged and he seemed to be afraid of something. His sudden appearance caused Firepaw to gasp softly, as she took in the sight of his form she saw that his coat was full of scratches and bite marks 'He's hurt' she thought sadly. Graypaw looked worriedly at the young tom, as their Clanmates came to crowd around the injured tom.

"Why is Ravenpaw here by himself? Where are Redtail and Tigerclaw?" gasped Graypaw in shock. Firepaw look at Graypaw confused.

"Who are Ravenpaw, Redtail, and Tigerclaw?" She asked keeping her gaze focused on Ravenpaw's heaving form.

"Redtail is our deputy" meowed Graypaw "Tigerclaw is one of our warriors and Ravenpaw is Tigerstar's apprentice." Firepaw nodded and watched as Bluestar made her way through the warriors to stand in front of Ravenpaw. As she approached him, Firepaw didn't take her eyes off the ThunderClan leader.

"What has happened Ravenpaw?" asked Bluestar with concern, letting her tail gently touch his flank. She seemed concerned to see the young tom flinch."Where is the rest of the patrol?"

Ravenpaw stood up and yowled out to his shocked Clanmates.

"Redtail…" Ravenpaw started speaking and trembled slightly. "Redtail is dead!" All the of the cats started yowl in shock and disbelief. Bluestar waved her tail for silence and Ravenpaw waited until the cats quieted down before speaking again.

"We met a RiverClan patrol and Oakheart was leading them." Ravenpaw wheezed a little before he continued. "Oakheart said that he was going to take over Sunningrocks. Redtail told him that any warrior from RiverClan that crossed onto ThunderClan territory would be killed. Then a fight broke out." Ravenpaw breathed, then suddenly slumped to the ground. Firepaw had to fight down her yowl of terror believing at first that Ravenpaw had died, but quickly remembered he had quite a few wounds and must have passed out from the pain.

"Spottedleaf" Bluestar called out. Firepaw watched as a beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat came over and sniffed at Ravenpaw's wounds, before she asked one of the warriors, a brown tabby tom to help her move Ravenpaw to her den. Firepaw watched them go for a moment until she heard a slight rustling sound coming from the entrance to the camp.

A few moments later a large brown tabby tom with amber eyes came through the gorse tunnel carrying the still body of a dark tortoiseshell tom with a bright red tail. The Clan cats began to murmur amongst each other. Some cats began to wail in grief for the loss of their deputy. The tabby warrior dragged the fallen deputy to the center of the clearing and laid his body down. Firepaw's eyes widened in shock as she took in the large size of the broad shouldered dark tabby tom as the Clan cats started to gather around the body. Bluestar stepped forward and addressed the dark tabby.

"Tigerclaw, what happened?" Bluestar demanded as she looked over her deputy's still form. "Who did this?" The large tabby looked over at his leader and spoke with an unwavering voice.

"It was Oakheart he killed Redtail" meowed Tigerclaw. "I avenged Redtail by taking Oakheart's life. I don't think we will see RiverClan on our territory for a while." Firepaw shivered at the dark tone of Tigerclaw's tragic tale of the former deputy's demise. Many of the Clan seemed gratified by Tigerclaw's words. Bluestar however looked troubled by what the dark tabby tom had just said.

"I see. I do not condone a warrior killing another warrior. But if what you say is true, than I can understand the need to want to avenge your fallen Clanmate, In the future I expect you to have better control."

"Of course Bluestar," Tigerclaw meowed dipping his head respectfully. Bluestar seemed satisfied with what was said as she headed toward her den.

The Clan started to groom Redtail's fur, a light gray fur she-cat took a tall plant with needle-like leaves and purple flowers and rubbed it along the tom's fur. The Clan stood near, murmuring soft words to the lifeless body.

"What are they doing?" Firepaw asked quietly to Graypaw. Graypaw answered that they were sharing tongues with him one last time before he joined their ancient warrior ancestors and that the light gray she-cat, named Willowpelt, was rubbing rosemary in his pelt to hide the scent of death. Then Graypaw padded forwarded to pay his respects to Redtail. Firepaw sat a little bit away from the mourning cats, and watched as they moved a fair distance away and watched. Graypaw came over to them and explained that Redtail had been a great warrior and that Ravenpaw's brother Dustpaw, a young brown tabby sitting beside Redtail's body was Redtail's apprentice, was supposed to go with them but had injured his paw. The young brown tabby was sitting with his head lowered, his eyes clouded with grief. Firepaw felt a slight ache in her heart for the tom. Suddenly Tigerclaw stood and moved away from Redtail and started to move out of the clearing.

"Where is he going?" murmured Firepaw loud enough for Graypaw to hear as she watched the dark tabby warrior pad off.

"He is probably going to check on Ravenpaw." answered Graypaw. "I want to go check on him as well since he seemed to be shaken up badly by that attack." Firepaw nodded and agreed to follow Graypaw into Spottedleaf's clearing where they saw Tigerclaw moving into her den. The two apprentices padded over and peered into the den. Spottedleaf was crouched beside Ravenpaw placing cobwebs on his wounds while Tigerclaw paced back and forth.

"Well Spottedleaf is he going to live?" asked Tigerclaw his meow a deep rumble. "I wouldn't want my apprentice to die after his first battle." Spottedleaf nudged the dark tabby as she slipped by him to gather more herbs.

"Of course he'll live Tigerclaw," came the soft purr of Spottedleaf "He just needs rest." Tigerclaw glanced at the medicine cat before he walked over to Ravenpaw and nudged him with one of his talon-like claws. Firepaw gasped softly as she took in the long sharp claws.

"I wouldn't want to face him in battle," she muttered and Graypaw agreed with her.

Spottedleaf shooed Tigerclaw away telling him that Ravenpaw needed to rest. Tigerclaw started out of the den when he noticed Firepaw, and Graypaw. He padded over to stand before them. Firepaw once more took in the large tom's muscular shoulders and powerful frame. She stiffened slightly to keep herself from fidgeting under the tom's dark amber gaze.

"Who is she?" asked Tigerclaw, not taking his eyes off the flame furred apprentice.

"This is Firepaw, she is our newest apprentice." Graypaw told the proud warrior. Firepaw sat a little straighter wanting to make a good impression on the large dark tabby. Tigerclaw leaned in a little breathing in her scent. She shivered a little as his breath warmed her chest fur, from having gotten so close. She saw his ear flick with a little uncertainty as he stood straight again.

"She smells like a kittypet," Tigerclaw sniffed slightly. Firepaw narrowed her bright green eyes at Tigerclaw, lifting her chin as she held his amber stare.

"I was a kittypet," she replied, her pelt slightly fluffing out in defense. Tigerclaw looked her dead in the eye. Firepaw felt her fur warm up and tried to keep herself from trembling under the older tom's gaze. Tigerclaw then gave her a thoughtful look.

"I see, well then I will watch how you adjust to clan life with interest." Tigerclaw meowed as he walked away. Firepaw sat up even straighter and her fur slowly flattened against her pelt as he walked away.

As the dark, tabby warrior, walked out of earshot, she turned her attention to her friend, who had been watching the exchange in amusement. "Do you think he liked me?" She asked. Though she was slightly irritated by the tabby warrior, she couldn't help but wonder if she had made a good impression with him. Graypaw glanced in the direction Tigerclaw had stalked off to.

"I don't know, honestly he isn't exactly the friendliest warrior to apprentices or outsiders." meowed Graypaw with a shrug. Firepaw continued to stare off in Tigerstar's direction before she became distracted by a gentle voice calling to Graypaw. She looked back toward the medicine den and saw Ravenpaw, who had been lying motionless in his nest, opened one of his eyes and looked at Graypaw.

"Is Tigerclaw gone?" asked Ravenpaw sitting up a little. Graypaw nodded at the black furred apprentice.

"Yeah he is gone" answered Graypaw blinking reassuringly. Ravenpaw seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Firepaw was surprised to hear the young tom say that. She wondered if he was afraid Tigerclaw would have him train despite his injuries. She didn't dwell on it long as Spottedleaf, glanced over at the apprentices in annoyance.

"You all need to leave, my patient needs to rest" She mewed with an impatient flick of her tail.

"Okay then" meowed Graypaw "We'll see you later Ravenpaw." Graypaw led Firepaw out of the den and away from Spottedleaf's clearing. Firepaw looked back at the young tom hoping he recovered quickly.

"Don't worry Spottedleaf's a great medicine cat, Ravenpaw will be good as new in no time." Graypaw assured her as if he had just read her mind. "How about I show you around?" asked Graypaw, Firepaw nodded starting to feel a little more excitement.

Graypaw led her around camp showing her all of the dens. He pointed out the warrior's den where they'd sleep once they became warriors. He showed her the nursery where the Queens looked after their kits, afterward they headed to the elders den. The elders greeted the cats and congratulated the newest apprentice in joining their Clan.

"I'm sure you will do just fine in the Clan," meowed Halftail, a big dark brown tabby tom with part of his tail missing. An old tortoiseshell she-cat, named Dappletail nodded beside him giving Firepaw a reassuring look.

"I agree she'll do just fine," she purred. A short eared pale gray tom, Smallear sighed suddenly as he glanced at the entrance of the den.

"I wonder when Bluestar will appoint a new deputy?" he meowed suddenly. Firepaw glanced curiously at the old tom. And started to think about his comment.

"Remember when Bluestar was made a deputy many moons ago?" Asked a pale gray she-cat who was missing an eye. Firepaw glanced curiously at the pale gray she-cat.

"I remember One-eye, it was right after she lost her kits" rasped Dappletail with a sad twinge in her mew.

"Those poor kits" meowed Rosetail, a light ginger tabby she-cat with a pinkish-orange tail who shook her head sadly. Firepaw blinked a little in surprise as she looked at Rosetail.

"Bluestar had kits?" asked Firepaw curiously. A black and white tom, named Patchpelt nodded in response to Firepaw's question.

"Yes, she did" spoke One-eye softly, her only eye seemed to glaze over as she started to reminisce about the past.

"It was our coldest leaf-bare, and during the night a fox broke into the nursery and stole Bluestar's kits, I remember I was also in the den caring for my first litter of kits." meowed One-eye.

"We searched for days, but we never found them" meowed Dappletail with a long sigh. Firepaw felt overwhelming sorrow for Bluestar, she decided to change the conversation to something different. Remembering Smallear's earlier question, she decided it was a good topic to start with.

"So when will Bluestar choose her new deputy?" She asked. The atmosphere changed a little bringing their minds back to the fallen ThunderClan deputy. Halftail sighed a little as he turned to look at Firepaw.

"She will make her choice before moonhigh." Halftail explained to her. Smallear nodded in agreement.

"It won't be easy for her to choose after Redtail." Pointed out Smallear, a gray tom with small ears. "He served her for a long time"

"Yes, but the new choice for deputy is an obvious choice." Meowed Halftail, Graypaw and Firepaw looked at each other and were thinking the same thing. 'Probably Tigerclaw.'The apprentices left the elders den just as Bluestar leaped to onto the Highrock to call a clan meeting.

"It is time now that I choose a new deputy. So I say this now in the presence of Redtail so that he may approve my choice, Lionheart will be deputy." Bluestar meowed to her Clanmates. He Clan yowled their approval, Graypaw being the loudest. Bluestar waited for silence before continuing her meeting.

"There is also the matter of Redtail's apprentice, Dustpaw. He will need a new mentor now that Redtail has fallen" Meowed Bluestar looking over at a young brown tabby sitting close to Redtail's still form. "Darkstripe you were a good mentor to Longtail, I hope that you teach all you can to young Dustpaw." Firepaw almost felt bad for the young tom getting such a rude mentor, as she watched Darkstripe walk over and touch noses with Dustpaw. Bluestar finished her news and leaped down to make her way over to Redtail.

The Clan began to congratulate Lionheart. Firepaw looked around and spotted Tigerclaw amongst his Clanmates, he didn't look particularly pleased to not be chosen for the deputy position but he still had come up and congratulated the golden warrior. Graypaw wore a look of pride on his face and moved to quickly congratulate Lionheart, Firepaw a few pawsteps behind him.

"Congratulations Lionheart," meowed Graypaw happily. Lionheart purred his thanks and dipped his head to Firepaw in acknowledgement. Firepaw returned the gesture.

"Hello Firepaw, I trust Graypaw has been treating you well?" Graypaw's jaw dropped, giving his mentor a scandalized look. Firepaw mrrowed with laughter.

"Graypaw has been a big help," Firepaw meowed, flicking her tail against the gray apprentice's flank. "He's already shown me much of the camp, and he introduced me to the elders." Lionheart purred and gave his apprentice an approving look.

"Good, you two should get some rest for the night. We'll be training in the morning." He meowed. Graypaw nudged Firepaw gently starting to pad away.

"Come on Firepaw, I should show you the apprentice den." Firepaw blinked slowly and glanced at the still form of Redtail lying peacefully surrounded by his Clanmates.

"We're not going to sit vigil with Redtail?" she asked softly. Graypaw shook his head.

"No, only those who were close to him will sit with him this night." Graypaw told her gently, while glancing at the cats sitting around the young deputy. He led the flame furred she-cat toward the apprentice den.

She found an extra nest in the den waiting for her and looked curiously at Graypaw who looked a little sheepish.

"I was a little too excited about having you join the Clan so I prepared your nest ahead of time." Graypaw explained Firepaw purred in amusement and nudged the tom gratefully. "Sandpaw thought I was going insane."

"Whose Sandpaw?" asked Firepaw looked questioningly.

"Oh she's Whitestorm's apprentice, you'll probably see her tomorrow before training, which starts at dawn if you're wondering." yawned Graypaw. "I guess we should get some sleep." Firepaw agreed and lied down in her nest beside Graypaw nest and a nest that smelt like Ravenpaw. Before long the two apprentices were sleeping peacefully.

Whelp that happened. So what do you think review?


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